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tests are consistent and indicate the order of magnitude of hydraulic conductivity and <br />storativity.")(emphasis added). Thus, Powertech specifically relies on data from previous pumping <br />tests, yet this underlying data does not appear to have been considered by the Division thus far in its <br />review, as it is not available in the public file. See 34-32-113(9)(requiring all non-confidential <br />information received by the Division to be placed in the public file). <br />Some portions of this previous pump test data may have been obtained by the Division <br />through activities conducted under Powertech's Notice of intent to Conduct Prospecting File No. P- <br />2007-015, approved prior to passage of SB 08-228. However, this fact does not preclude public <br />review of this data in the context of NOI File No. 2008-043. Under the Mined Land Reclamation <br />Act (MLRA), "[t]he design and operation of the baseline characterization and monitoring plan for in <br />situ ]each mining, together with all information collected in accordance with the plan, shall be a <br />matter of public record regardless of whether such activities are conducted pursuant to a notice of <br />intent to conduct prospecting operations under section 34-32-113." C.R.S. § 34-32-112.5(5)(c). <br />Thus, if Powertech in any way makes any use of the data obtained via-previous pump tests for <br />purposes of establishing its baseline site characterization (as it expressly purports to do in Appendix <br />1 at pp. 1-2), that information must be made public. Absent the availability of that data, the public is <br />denied its ability to meaningfully participate in this process. <br />Even more broadly, the MLRA states that "[a]ll information provided to the board in a notice <br />of intent to conduct prospecting or a modification of such a notice is a matter of public record subject <br />to the open records act, part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., including, in the case of a modification, <br />the original notice of intent...." C.R.S. § 34-32-113(3). Thus, because Powertech expressly relies on <br />the previous pump test data as support for its application in NOI File No. 2008-043, that data must be <br />made available to the public. If it has not been made available to the Division, despite being relied <br />upon by Powertech to support its conclusions regarding impacts from the proposed activities, then <br />the record in this matter is incomplete, and insufficient to support a conclusion that the applicant has <br />minimized disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance, and to ground water quality and <br />quantity. See C.R.S. §§ 34-32-113(2)(f); 34-32-116(7)(g). <br />Lastly, as expressed in previous letters to the Division with respect to the impacts associated <br />with conductivity between aquifers via historic well holes in the direct vicinity of the currently <br />proposed aquifer pump test, Powertech simply asserts in its NOI application materials that "the <br />condition of the exploration boreholes and monitoring wells installed by others is unknown but will <br />be evaluated through ongoing monitoring during the pumping test and reinjection of the produced <br />fluid." Petrotek Report at 6. However, no information is provided as to what efforts Powertech has <br />made to assess the condition of these holes, what methodology Powertech proposes to use in <br />conducting these evaluations, nor why such information is unavailable from the apparent previous <br />pump tests conducted in the vicinity. As with the previous pump test data, this information is <br />necessary for the Division to discharge its duty under the MLRA to minimize impacts to the <br />hydrologic balance, as well as to ground water quality and quantity <br />Apart from the unavailability of necessary data, another issue raised by the public with <br />respect to Powertech's proposed pump tests has gone wholly unaddressed: the lack of an approved <br />baseline site characterization plan prior to commencement of the proposed aquifer pump tests. As <br />mentioned above, the express purpose of the proposed aquifer pump tests is to gather hydrologic and <br />geologic information to be used in the creation of the "thorough" and "scientifically defensible" <br />baseline site characterization required by the MLRA. Request for Modification, Appendix 1 at pp. 1- <br />2. Yet, no baseline characterization plan has been approved by the DRMS. <br />2